Biography of John Napier

Jessica Ruiz-Jones 12/05/2013

John Napier was a Scottish theologist, mathematician, physicist and astronomer. Born into nobility, he was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle and Janet Bothwell, the daughter of a member of the Parliament. Although his contributions in the history of mathematics were vast, he did not begin attending any type of formal schooling until the age of 13, and shortly after beginning his education, he dropped out to continue independent studies throughout Europe (Mathematics).

Although little is known regarding Napier's activities during his early years, at age 21, he returned to his native roots and married Elizabeth Stirling, the daughter of Scottish mathematician James Stirling. After having two children, Elizabeth Stirling died only five years following their marriage. He later married Agnes Chisholm, and they added ten more children to the family.

Napier was surrounded by many notable role models to whom he looked up to and shared intellectual passions. His father had a deep interest in religion, and Napier developed an interest in these matters as well. Since he was born into wealth, there was little he needed to worry himself with in the way of financial support, so he had time to focus on the religious and political issues surrounding Scotland during the late 16th century. Through his studies, he developed a solid standpoint against the Catholic church and wrote a notable book entitled A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John. Although most people today associate Napier with his mathematical achievements, he felt as though his contributions toward religion were more important.

As a member of nobility, Napier had possession of land, and his genius manifested in agriculture. He was constantly trying to implement new innovations in an attempt to maximize his crops and livestock. Among the inventions he developed included new fertilizing techniques for optimal growth, an apparatus to remove water from coal pits, and land measurement advancements. Although he is not recognized for the invention of any type of military equipment, there are records that indicate he had made mention of devices such as submarines, machine guns, and even army tanks.

Perhaps fostered by his father-in-law's deep interest in mathematics, Napier took a mathematical approach to astronomy, another subject with which he found deep fascination. While most interested in the stars at this time found simple observation sufficient in satisfying their interest, Napier delved into deep calculations involving long numbers and a lot of time. Less than a century prior to his birth, Copernicus had published his theory of the solar system, and this caused a large number of astronomers to build on his discovery by doing extensive calculations to determine planetary positions. In fact, Johannes Kepler filled almost 1,000 pages to substantiate his well-known laws of planetary motion. It was not until Napier introduced the concept of the logarithm that a more efficient way of making these calculations was available (Mathematics).

Although we understand today how substantial Napier's mathematical epiphany was, change can be intimidating for anyone, and many mathematicians of his day were hesitant to accept his explanations. They were unsure of how logarithms functioned, and it took time and further proof for his peers to understand that he had discovered a truly amazing tool that would save people hours of time into the perpetual future.

It came to Napier that every number can be expressed in exponential form. For example, 27 could also be expressed as 3^3. This opened up a new way for mathematicians to more easily calculate long equations by replacing a large amount of complicated multiplication and division with more simple addition and subtraction (Applications).

He made this discovery public in his book A Description of the Wonderful Canon of Logarithms. In the book, he first explained his discovery and then went on to provide a useful table of logarithms. The publication was a success. Notable mathematicians and astronomers were amazed with the discovery. In fact, it is said that mathematician Henry Briggs was so intrigued that he personally traveled to Scotland to meet the man who had offered such a powerful tool to the industry. The two combined their genius to expand on Napier's initial discovery to introduce Base 10.

While logarithms are an important tool still used today, Napier did not stop there. He is also accredited with another crucial mathematical concept: the use of decimals. It was his logic that the fractional parts of a number could be notated by using a dot to separate them from whole numbers. This concept was quickly accepted and spread through Great Britain and on to the rest of the world.

There is no record of how John Napier died, but he passed on at Merchiston Castle in Scotland on April 3, 1617 (How). After a life of valuable contributions to every mathematician who would follow in his footsteps, his 67 years on this Earth were spent wisely. Technology is the application of knowledge for practical purposes, and Napier played a huge part in the high-scale accommodations we enjoy today. Inventions have long innovated from the discovery of the wheel to the Ipads, tablets, and other devices we use today. Napier's discoveries played a large part in the mathematical innovations that have manifested after his passing, and we still use and appreciate them today.

Works Cited

“Mathematics” About.com. March 2013. http://math.about.com/library/weekly/blbionapier.htm

“Applications: Web-Based Precalculus.” Did You Know? March 2001. http://ualr.edu/lasmoller/napier.html

“How Did John Napier Die?” Ask.com. http://www.ask.com/question/how-did-john-napier-die